E65 programming
Hi, just sharing a experience that had a not so good ending.
BMW 730D, 2007 plate 3.0l diesel. Original fault was a steering angle sensor issue, repair was fit sensor as part of steering column switch module (SZL).
As autologic has been having issues (bad DLC lead) decided to use ISTA P, done the preliminary work, BSU, doors open to allow ventilation to cabin, MOST connector used. Bonnet button pulled up, all ticked off.
ISTA P had a lot of updates for this vehicle and coding for the SZL, only snag was there was no pop up to allow no updates to anything on the MOST data bus.
Programming done, noticed no screen display, no radio, nothing. Uh-oh. No Comms to CD unit.
Many failed programming/coding attempts later and had to admit defeat and order a CD unit.
Just letting you all know that if you have to work on a E65 7 series, any coding to be done ISTA P has its dangers.
ISTA was updated that day so should have been the latest software available.
If the vehicle has CCC do not update software unless customer signs a waiver. HDD has bad sectors & software update will cause no start up. Next time use ISTA expert mode to code/ update only the modules you select.
I know it has its dangers, I have not been shown a ISTA expert mode, is this something that is rather hidden? My ISTA experience is a tad limited and learning something new every day, I can use it for diag and programming on F series without any issue but my ISTA P experience is rather small in comparison, I do know updates are best avoided on anything within the MOST network, usually see a pop
Brandon, As far as i know expert mode is not available to the aftermarket on the software available through BMW. I have tried to find out about it before as it is readily available in the Hacked versions of ISTA sold online with no luck. It might be something BMW holds back like the INPA software used by field service engineers. I have heard that INPA is used to fix crashed CCC units but I have
Expert Mode and INPA (along with all the other BMW tools like winkfp, tool32, esys, etc..) are all readily available. I have never seen INPA recover a failed CCC. I have seen ISTA P recover a failed CCC if restarted after it failed itself. Also, I have recovered several CCC units from other shops using boot loader software that I burned to a disc (this only works when BGA flash is corrupt) if
Brandon, Thanks for the information. I have also recovered several CCC units myself with ISTA but I keep hearing there are other ways to recover them. Is expert mode available through ISTA P online? I have only seen it offered in the clone tools.
I do not believe so, although I do not use ISTA P online. I do not know why this (online) would be needed for anyone. 100% of functions for BMW can be done offline (dissimmilar to Benz or Porsche). By clone one tools I am assuming you mean software? As that is what we are referencing. Just trying to ensure I provide proper info... the word clone to mean means hardware. I use genuine BMW ICOM
Anthony, Strange that you didn't get a selective/complete programming screen since this car is on the selective programming list. Are you using ISTA/P OSS?
I'm new'ish to ISTA so can't 100% say about OSS. I've used ISTA on F chassis without any issues, not used ISTA P that much but am well aware of the dangers. Just thought sharing my issue may help others avoid a potential issue.
Anthony, OSS is short for Online Service System which is a series of applications (including ISTA/P) that lets you access programming, fault code information, bulletins, etc. All this is available to the aftermarket for a fee of course. It seems that you might be based out of the US so in this case you would have to use aos.bmwgroup.com AOS is short for Aftersales
Here in the UK we are using AOS, apart from its programming woes it's a cracking diag tool (live data is not great though in my experience)
It is not uncommon to not get the screen to exclude the MOST ring on this year and model.
Anthony I have seen this a few times myself when coding/ programming with ista. seen it on E90s and E70s, unfortunately I would try to do a battery reset and other various ways to try to recover the CCC but have had no luck. if I'm not programming or coding a module on the MOST bus i wont even connect to it and ill skip over it all together. I have also had Footwell modules crash on me during
Footwell modules have a known crash when running ISTA (with or without programming). However, they have an extended warranty though BMW. Explorer is a much much more in-depth software from Eastern Europe, but requires a good amount of software knowledge to use.